Freeform optical substrates in waveguide displays

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to methods of forming a substrate having a target thickness distribution at one or more eyepiece areas across a substrate. The substrate includes eyepiece areas corresponding to areas where optical device eyepieces are to be formed on the substrate. Each eyepiece area includes a target thickness distribution. A base substrate thickness distribution of a base substrate is measured such that a target thickness change can be determined. The methods described herein are utilized along with the target thickness change to form a substrate with the target thickness distribution.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.17/315,613, filed May 10, 2021, which is herein incorporated byreference in its entirety for all applicable purposes.

BACKGROUND Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to opticaldevices. More specifically, embodiments described herein provide forforming a substrate having the same thickness distribution at one ormore eyepiece areas across a substrate.

Description of the Related Art

Virtual reality is generally considered to be a computer generatedsimulated environment in which a user has an apparent physical presence.A virtual reality experience can be generated in 3D and viewed with ahead-mounted display (HMD), such as glasses or other wearable displaydevices that have near-eye display panels as optical device eyepieces todisplay a virtual reality environment that replaces an actualenvironment.

Augmented reality, however, enables an experience in which a user canstill see through the optical device eyepieces of the glasses or otherHMD device to view the surrounding environment, yet also see images ofvirtual objects that are generated for display and appear as part of theenvironment. Augmented reality can include any type of input, such asaudio and haptic inputs, as well as virtual images, graphics, and videothat enhances or augments the environment that the user experiences. Asan emerging technology, there are many challenges and design constraintswith augmented reality.

One such challenge is having the same thickness distribution at one ormore areas across a substrate. It is difficult to predict the thicknessdistribution at each eyepiece area and therefore the thicknessdistribution at each eyepiece area cannot be accounted for beforehand,leading to an uncontrolled source of variation. Optical device eyepieceswhich are modeled and optimized under the assumption of a certainthickness distribution will generally perform differently when thatthickness distribution is changed, resulting in performance issues. Forexample, when the thickness distribution at each eyepiece area isunknown, low optical efficiency and poor uniformity of brightness andcolor across the field of view of the optical device eyepieces formed onor over the substrate will occur. Accordingly, what is needed in the artare methods for forming a substrate having the same thicknessdistribution at one or more eyepiece areas across a substrate.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, a method is provided. The method includes measuring abase substrate thickness distribution across a base substrate. Themethod further includes determining a target thickness change. Thetarget thickness change is determined by subtracting the base substratethickness distribution from a target thickness distribution. The targetthickness distribution corresponds to a thickness across one or moreeyepiece areas of a substrate to be formed. The method further includesforming a substrate having the target thickness distribution at the oneor more eyepiece areas.

In another embodiment, a method is provided. The method includesplanarizing a base substrate having a base substrate thicknessdistribution. The method further includes determining a target thicknesschange. The target thickness change is determined by subtracting thebase substrate thickness distribution from a target thicknessdistribution. The target thickness distribution corresponds to athickness across one or more eyepiece areas of a substrate to be formed.The method further includes forming a substrate having the targetthickness distribution at the one or more eyepiece areas.

In yet another embodiment, a substrate is provided. The substrateincludes a plurality of inactive areas. The substrate further includes aplurality of eyepiece areas disposed between the plurality of inactiveareas. Each eyepiece area defines an area of the substrate to have anoptical device eyepiece formed thereon. The plurality of eyepiece areaseach have a target thickness distribution across the eyepiece area. Thetarget thickness distribution is defined by a distance between a topsurface and a bottom surface of the substrate at the eyepiece area.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above recited features of the presentdisclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description ofthe disclosure, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference toembodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Itis to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate onlyexemplary embodiments and are therefore not to be considered limiting ofits scope, and may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

FIG. 1A is a schematic, top view of a substrate according toembodiments.

FIGS. 1B-1E are schematic, cross-sectional views of a substrate having atarget thickness distribution according to embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a method for forming a substrate with atarget thickness distribution as shown in FIGS. 3A-3D according toembodiments.

FIGS. 3A-3D are schematic, cross-sectional views of an eyepiece areaaccording to embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a sub-method for forming a substrate with atarget thickness distribution as shown in FIGS. 5A-5D according toembodiments.

FIGS. 5A-5D are schematic, cross-sectional views of a base substrateduring a sub-method for forming a substrate with a target thicknessdistribution according to embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a sub-method method for forming a substratewith a target thickness distribution as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7Baccording to embodiments.

FIGS. 7A-7B are schematic, cross-sectional views of a base substrateduring a sub-method for forming a substrate with a target thicknessdistribution according to embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a method for forming a substrate with atarget thickness distribution as shown in FIGS. 9A-9D according toembodiments.

FIGS. 9A-9D are schematic, cross-sectional views of an eyepiece areaaccording to embodiments.

FIGS. 10A-10D are schematic, cross-sectional views of a substrate duringa sub-method for forming a substrate with a target thicknessdistribution according to embodiments.

FIGS. 11A-11B are schematic, cross-sectional views of a substrate duringa sub-method for forming a substrate with a target thicknessdistribution according to embodiments.

FIGS. 12A-12C are schematic, cross-sectional views of optical deviceeyepieces according to embodiments.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures. It is contemplated that elements and features of oneembodiment may be beneficially incorporated in other embodiments withoutfurther recitation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments described herein relate to methods for forming a substratehaving the same thickness distribution at one or more eyepiece areasacross a substrate. The method includes measuring a base substratethickness distribution across a base substrate or planarizing a basesubstrate having a base substrate thickness distribution.

The method further includes determining a target thickness change. Thetarget thickness change is determined by subtracting the base substratethickness distribution from a target thickness distribution. The targetthickness distribution corresponds to a thickness across one or moreeyepiece areas of a substrate to be formed. The method further includesforming a substrate having the target thickness distribution at the oneor more eyepiece areas. The substrate includes a plurality of inactiveareas. The substrate further includes a plurality of eyepiece areasdisposed between the plurality of inactive areas. Each eyepiece areadefines an area of the substrate to have an optical device eyepieceformed thereon. The plurality of eyepiece areas each have a targetthickness distribution across the eyepiece area. The target thicknessdistribution is defined by a distance between a top surface and a bottomsurface of the substrate at the eyepiece area.

FIG. 1A is a schematic, top view of a substrate 100. The substrate 100includes a plurality of eyepiece areas 101. The eyepiece areas 101 areareas over the substrate 100 where one of an optical device eyepiece1200A-1200C (shown in FIGS. 12A-12C) are to be formed. Although onlynine of the eyepiece areas 101 are shown in FIG. 1A, the substrate 100is not limited in the number of the eyepiece areas 101 corresponding toa number of optical device eyepieces 1200A-1200C to be formed thereon.

FIGS. 1B-1E are schematic, cross-sectional views of a substrate 100having a target thickness distribution 116. The substrate 100 includesthe eyepiece areas 101 disposed across the substrate 100. Inactive areas104 are disposed between the eyepiece areas 101. The inactive areas 104are areas of the substrate 100 that will not have one of the opticaldevice eyepieces 1200A-1200C formed thereon. The substrate 100 includesa top surface 110 and a bottom surface 111.

The substrate 100 includes a base substrate 106. In some embodiments,which can be combined with other embodiment described herein, an indexmatched layer 108 is disposed over the base substrate 106, as shown inFIGS. 1C and 1E. The index matched layer 108 has a refractive index thatmatches or substantially matches the refractive index of the basesubstrate 106. The base substrate 106 includes an upper surface 102 andthe bottom surface 111.

The base substrate 106 and the index matched layer 108 may be formedfrom any suitable material, provided that the substrate 100 canadequately transmit light in a desired wavelength or wavelength rangeand can serve as an adequate support for the optical device eyepieces1200A-1200C (shown in FIGS. 12A-12C). The base substrate 106 and/or theindex matched layer 108 may be a material including, but not limited to,amorphous dielectrics, non-amorphous dielectrics, crystallinedielectrics, silicon oxide, polymers, and combinations thereof. In someembodiments, which may be combined with other embodiments describedherein, the base substrate 106 and/or the index matched layer 108includes a transparent material. In one example, the base substrate 106and/or the index matched layer 108 includes silicon (Si), silicondioxide (SiO₂), fused silica, quartz, silicon carbide (SiC), germanium(Ge), silicon germanium (SiGe), indium phosphide (InP), gallium arsenide(GaAs), gallium nitride (GaN), sapphire, or combinations thereof.

At least the eyepiece areas 101 of the substrate 100 include a targetthickness distribution 116. The target thickness distribution 116 is thelocal thickness distribution that has been determined to be replicatedat each of the eyepiece areas 101. The target thickness distribution 116is defined by the distance between the top surface 110 and the bottomsurface 111 of the substrate 100 across the eyepiece area 101. Thetarget thickness distribution 116 may be any linear or nonlineardistribution.

FIGS. 1 B and 1C show the target thickness distribution 116 formed inthe eyepiece areas 101. The inactive areas 104 of the substrate 100 havean inactive thickness distribution 120, i.e., the inactive thicknessdistribution 120 does not match the target thickness distribution 116.The inactive thickness distribution 120 is defined by the distancebetween the top surface 110 and the bottom surface 111 across theinactive area 104 in the inactive areas 104. As shown in FIG. 1B, thetarget thickness distribution 116 is formed from the base substrate 106of the substrate 100 at each eyepiece area 101. As shown in FIG. 1C, thetarget thickness distribution 116 is formed from the index matched layer108 of the substrate 100 at each eyepiece area 101.

FIGS. 1D and 1E show the target thickness distribution 116 formed in theeyepiece areas 101 and the inactive areas 104. Thus, the targetthickness distribution 116 is the same in the eyepiece areas 101 and inthe inactive areas 104. As shown in FIG. 1D, the target thicknessdistribution 116 is formed from the base substrate 106 of the substrate100 at each eyepiece area 101 and each inactive area 104. As shown inFIG. 1E, the target thickness distribution 116 is formed from the indexmatched layer 108 of the substrate 100 at each eyepiece area 101 andeach inactive area 104.

The target thickness distribution 116 is engineered to improve theperformance of the optical device eyepieces 1200A-1200C to be formedthereon. The target thickness distribution 116 is the same in at leasteach eyepiece area 101 of the substrate 100. Methods described hereinwill provide for the target thickness distribution 116 to be achieved inat least each eyepiece area 101. The target thickness distribution 116is not limited to the target thickness distribution 116 shown in FIGS.1B-1E and may be any thickness distribution determined to be suitableand improve the performance of the optical device eyepieces 1200A-1200C.

While FIGS. 1B-1D depicts the base substrate 106 with the distancebetween the bottom surface 111 and the upper surface 102 of the basesubstrate 106 changing across the base substrate 106, in otherembodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments describedherein, the base substrate 106 is planar such that the distance betweenthe bottom surface 111 and the upper surface 102 of the base substrate106 is constant across the base substrate 106, as shown in FIG. 1E.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of a method 200 for forming a substrate 100with a target thickness distribution 116 as shown in FIGS. 3A-3D. Themethod 200 may be utilized to form the target thickness distribution 116in eyepiece areas 101 and/or inactive areas 104 (shown in FIGS. 1B-1E)of the substrate 100. FIGS. 3A-3D are schematic, cross-sectional viewsof an eyepiece area 101. Although FIGS. 3A-3D correspond to an eyepiecearea 101, the FIGS. 3A-3D are not limited to the eyepiece areas 101 andmay also correspond to an inactive area 104 where the target thicknessdistribution 116 is to be formed.

At operation 201, as shown in FIG. 3A, a base substrate thicknessdistribution 212 of a base substrate 106 is measured. The base substratethickness distribution 212 is defined by the distance between the bottomsurface 111 and an upper surface 102 of the base substrate 106 acrossthe eyepiece area 101. The base substrate thickness distribution 212 isa measured thickness distribution of the base substrate 106 prior toforming the target thickness distribution 116.

At operation 202, a target thickness change is determined. The targetthickness change is a thickness change required to form the targetthickness distribution 116 from the base substrate thicknessdistribution 212. The target thickness distribution 116 is determinedusing the equation:

ΔT=T _(target) −T _(measured) +C

where ΔT is the target thickness change, T_(target) is the targetthickness distribution 116 (shown in FIGS. 1B-1E), T_(measured) is thebase substrate thickness distribution 212 found in operation 201, and Cis a global shift constant corresponding to a location on the basesubstrate 106. In one embodiment, which can be combined with otherembodiments described herein, the global shift constant is zero.

At optional operation 203, as shown in FIG. 3B, an index matched layer108 is disposed over the base substrate 106. The index matched layer 108may be disposed over the upper surface 102 of the base substrate 106 byone or more PVD, CVD, PECVD, FCVD, ALD, or spin-on coating processes.The index matched layer 108 has a refractive index that matches orsubstantially matches the refractive index of the base substrate 106.

At optional operation 204, one of a sub-method 400 or a sub-method 600is performed. FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a sub-method 400 for forming asubstrate 100 with a target thickness distribution 116 as shown in FIGS.5A-5D. FIGS. 5A-5D are schematic, cross-sectional views of a basesubstrate 106 during a sub-method 400 for forming a substrate 100 with atarget thickness distribution 116. At operation 401, as shown in FIGS.5A and 5B, a resist 502 is disposed. FIG. 5A shows the resist 502disposed over the base substrate 106. FIG. 5B shows the resist 502disposed over the index matched layer 108. The material of the resist502 may include, but is not limited to, light-sensitive polymercontaining materials. The resist 502 may be disposed by one or more PVD,CVD, PECVD, FCVD, ALD, and spin-on processes.

At operation 402, as shown in FIGS. 5C and 5D, the resist 502 isdeveloped. The resist 502 is developed utilizing a lithography process.In one embodiment, which can be combined with other embodimentsdescribed herein, the lithography process is a gray-tone lithographyprocess. The lithography process forms a gray-tone distribution 504 ofthe resist 502. The gray-tone lithography process may includephotolithography or digital lithography. The gray-tone distribution 504has a thickness distribution 506 that corresponds to the targetthickness distribution 116 of the substrate 100 to be formed. FIG. 5Cshows the resist 502 developed on the base substrate 106. FIG. 5D showsthe resist 502 developed on the index matched layer 108.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of the sub-method 600 for forming a substrate100 with a target thickness distribution 116 as shown in FIGS. 7A and7B. FIGS. 7A-7B are schematic, cross-sectional views of a base substrate106 during the sub-method 600 for forming a substrate 100 with a targetthickness distribution 116. At operation 601, a resist 702 is disposed.The material of the resist 702 may include, but is not limited to,light-sensitive polymer containing materials. The resist 702 may bedisposed by an inkjet printing process to achieve a thicknessdistribution 704 that corresponds to the target thickness distribution116 to be formed. FIG. 7A shows the resist 702 disposed over the basesubstrate 106. FIG. 7B shows the resist 702 disposed over the indexmatched layer 108.

At operation 205, as shown in FIGS. 3C and 3D, a substrate 100 with thetarget thickness distribution 116 is formed. The target thickness changeis utilized to determine the change to the base substrate thicknessdistribution 212 required to form the target thickness distribution 116.Determining the target thickness change provides for the processes ofthe operation 205 to be adjusted accordingly to form the targetthickness distribution 116 as desired. FIG. 3C shows the targetthickness distribution 116 formed in the base substrate 106 of thesubstrate 100. The substrate 100 of FIG. 3C corresponds to the eyepieceareas 101 shown in FIG. 1B. The substrate 100 of FIG. 3C alsocorresponds to the eyepiece areas 101 and the inactive areas 104 shownin FIG. 1D. FIG. 3D shows the target thickness distribution 116 formedin the index matched layer 108 of the substrate 100. The substrate 100of FIG. 3D corresponds to the eyepiece areas 101 shown in FIG. 1C.

In one embodiment, where the sub-method 400 or the sub-method 600 isperformed, the target thickness change is utilized such that the targetthickness distribution 116 is formed by performing a transfer etch. Thetransfer etch may include, but is not limited to, at least one of ionimplantation, ion beam etching (IBE), reactive ion etching (RIE),directional RIE, plasma etching, and thermal atomic layer etching. Thetransfer etch produces the target thickness distribution 116corresponding to the thickness distribution 506 of the sub-method 400 orcorresponding to the thickness distribution 704 of the sub-method 600.Any residual portions of the resist 502 or the resist 702 disposed overthe substrate 100 are removed.

In another embodiment, which can be combined with other embodimentsdescribed herein, when the sub-method 400 and the sub-method 600 are notutilized, the index matched layer 108 may be disposed on the basesubstrate 106 such that the index matched layer 108 accounts for thetarget thickness change and forms the target thickness distribution 116of the substrate 100. The index matched layer 108 may be disposed by aninkjet printing process to achieve the target thickness distribution116.

In yet another embodiment, which can be combined with other embodimentsdescribed herein, when the sub-method 400 and the sub-method 600 are notutilized, the substrate 100 having the target thickness distribution 116may be formed with a distribution etch process. The distribution etchprocess may include, but is not limited to, at least one of ionimplantation, ion beam etching (IBE), reactive ion etching (RIE),directional RIE, plasma etching, and thermal atomic layer etching. Thedistribution etch process may directly etch the base substrate 106 orthe index matched layer 108 to account for the target thickness changeand form the substrate 100 having the target thickness distribution 116.In one embodiment, which can be combined with other embodimentsdescribed herein, the base substrate 106 may be angled and rotated suchthat the distribution etch process may form the target thicknessdistribution 116. Additionally, when the index matched layer 108 isdisposed over the upper surface 102 of the base substrate 106, thedistribution etch process may directly etch the index matched layer 108to form the substrate 100 having target thickness distribution 116.

The target thickness distribution 116 shown in FIGS. 3C and 3D is aresult of utilizing the target thickness change of the method 200. Thetarget thickness distribution 116 may be formed at each eyepiece area101. Therefore, the target thickness distribution 116 across thesubstrate 100 at each eyepiece area 101 is the same. Each eyepiece area101 having the target thickness distribution 116 will allow for reducedvariability in the optical device eyepieces 1200A-1200C to be formedthereon.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a method for forming a substrate 100 with atarget thickness distribution 116 as shown in FIGS. 9A-9D. The method800 may be utilized to form the target thickness distribution 116 ineyepiece areas 101 and/or inactive areas 104 of the substrate 100. FIGS.9A-9D are schematic, cross-sectional views of an eyepiece area 101.Although FIGS. 9A-9D correspond to a eyepiece area 101, the FIGS. 9A-9Dare not limited to the eyepiece areas 101 and may also correspond to aninactive area 104 where the target thickness distribution 116 is to beformed.

At operation 801, as shown in FIG. 9A, a base substrate 106 isplanarized. A base substrate thickness distribution 212 is known acrossthe base substrate 106 as the base substrate thickness distribution 212is constant or substantially constant. The base substrate thicknessdistribution 212 is defined by the distance between the bottom surface111 and an upper surface 102 of the base substrate 106 across theeyepiece area 101. The base substrate thickness distribution 212 is ameasured thickness distribution of the base substrate 106 prior toforming the target thickness distribution 116.

At operation 802, a target thickness change is determined. The targetthickness change is a thickness change required to form the targetthickness distribution 116 from the base substrate thicknessdistribution 212. The target thickness change is determined using theequation:

ΔT=T _(target) −T _(measured) +C

where ΔT is the target thickness change, T_(target) is the targetthickness distribution 116 (shown in FIGS. 1B-1E), Tmeasured is the basesubstrate thickness distribution 212 found in operation 801, and C isthe global shift corresponding to a location on the base substrate 106.In one embodiment, which can be combined with other embodimentsdescribed herein, the global shift constant is zero.

At optional operation 803, as shown in FIG. 10B, an index matched layer108 is disposed over the base substrate 106. The index matched layer 108may be disposed over the upper surface 102 of the base substrate 106 byone or more PVD, CVD, PECVD, FCVD, ALD, and spin-on processes. In oneembodiment, which can be combined with other embodiments describedherein, the index matched layer 108 has a refractive index that matchesor substantially matches the refractive index of the base substrate 106.

At optional operation 804, one of the sub-method 400 or the sub-method600 described above is performed. FIGS. 10A-10D are schematic,cross-sectional views of a base substrate 106 during a sub-method 400for forming a substrate 100 with a target thickness distribution 116. Atoperation 401, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, a resist 1002 is disposed.FIG. 10A shows the resist 1002 disposed over the base substrate 106.FIG. 10B shows the resist 1002 disposed over the index matched layer108. The resist 1002 material may include, but is not limited to,light-sensitive polymer containing materials. The resist 1002 may bedisposed by one or more PVD, CVD, PECVD, FCVD, ALD, and spin-onprocesses.

At operation 402, as shown in FIGS. 10C and 10D, the resist 1002 isdeveloped. The resist 1002 is developed utilizing a lithography process.In one embodiment, which can be combined with other embodimentsdescribed herein, the lithography process is a gray-tone lithographyprocess. The lithography process forms a gray-tone distribution 1004 ofthe resist 1002. Developing the resist 1002 may include performing alithography process, such as photolithography and digital lithography.The gray-tone distribution 1004 has a thickness distribution 1006 thatcorresponds to the target thickness distribution 116 to be formed in thesubstrate 100. FIG. 10C shows the resist 1002 developed on the basesubstrate 106. FIG. 10D shows the resist 1002 developed on the indexmatched layer 108.

FIGS. 11A-11B are schematic, cross-sectional views of a base substrate106 during a sub-method 600 for forming a substrate with a targetthickness distribution 116. At operation 601, a resist 1102 is disposed.The material of the resist 1102 may include, but is not limited to,light-sensitive polymer containing materials. The resist 1102 may bedisposed by an inkjet printing process to achieve a thicknessdistribution 1104 that corresponds to the target thickness distribution116 to be formed in the substrate 100. FIG. 11A shows the resist 1102disposed over the base substrate 106. FIG. 11B shows the resist 1102disposed over the index matched layer 108.

At operation 805, as shown in FIGS. 9C and 9D, a substrate 100 with thetarget thickness distribution 116 is formed. The target thickness changeis utilized to determine the change to the base substrate thicknessdistribution 212 required to form the target thickness distribution 116.Determining the target thickness change provides for the processes ofthe operation 805 to be adjusted accordingly to form the targetthickness distribution 116 as desired. FIG. 9C shows the targetthickness distribution 116 formed in the base substrate 106 of thesubstrate 100. The substrate 100 of FIG. 9C corresponds to the eyepieceareas 101 shown in FIG. 1B. The substrate 100 of FIG. 9C corresponds tothe eyepiece areas 101 and the inactive areas 104 shown in FIG. 1D. FIG.9D shows the target thickness distribution 116 formed in the indexmatched layer 108 of the substrate 100. The substrate 100 of FIG. 9Dcorresponds to the eyepiece areas 101 and the inactive areas 104 shownin FIG. 1E.

In one embodiment, where the sub-method 400 or the sub-method 600 isperformed, the target thickness distribution 116 is formed by performinga transfer etch. The transfer etch may include, but is not limited to,at least one of ion implantation, ion beam etching (IBE), reactive ionetching (RIE), directional RIE, plasma etching, and thermal atomic layeretching. The transfer etch produces the target thickness distribution116 corresponding to the thickness distribution 1006 of the sub-method400 or corresponding to the thickness distribution 1104 of thesub-method 600. Any residual portions of the resist 1002 or the resist1102 disposed over the substrate 100 are removed.

In another embodiment, which can be combined with other embodimentsdescribed herein, when the sub-method 400 and the sub-method 600 are notutilized, the index matched layer 108 may be disposed on the basesubstrate 106 such that the index matched layer 108 accounts for thetarget thickness change and forms the substrate 100 having the targetthickness distribution 116. The index matched layer 108 may be disposedby an inkjet printing process to achieve the target thicknessdistribution 116. A mask may be utilized during the inkjet printingprocess to deposit the index matched layer 108 on the substrate 100.

In yet another embodiment, which can be combined with other embodimentsdescribed herein, when the sub-method 400 and the sub-method 600 are notutilized, the substrate 100 having the target thickness distribution 116may be formed with a distribution etch process. The distribution etchprocess may include, but is not limited to, at least one of ionimplantation, ion beam etching (IBE), reactive ion etching (RIE),directional RIE, plasma etching, and thermal atomic layer etching. Thedistribution etch process may directly etch the base substrate 106 orthe index matched layer 108 to account for the target thickness changeand form the substrate 100 having the target thickness distribution 116.In one embodiment, which can be combined with other embodimentsdescribed herein, the base substrate 106 may be angled and rotated suchthat the distribution etch process may form the target thicknessdistribution 116. Additionally, when the index matched layer 108 isdisposed over the upper surface 102 of the base substrate 106, thedistribution etch process may directly etch the index matched layer 108to form the target thickness distribution 116.

The target thickness distribution 116 shown in FIGS. 9C and 9D is aresult of utilizing the target thickness change of the method 800. Thetarget thickness distribution 116 may be formed at each eyepiece area101. Therefore, the target thickness distribution 116 across thesubstrate 100 at each eyepiece area 101 is the same. Each eyepiece area101 having the target thickness distribution 116 will allow for reducedvariability in the optical device eyepieces 1200A-1200C to be formedthereon.

FIGS. 12A-12C are schematic, cross-sectional views of optical deviceeyepieces 1200A-1200C. The optical device eyepieces 1200A-1200C areformed in a substrate 100. The optical device eyepieces 1200A-1200Cinclude a plurality of optical device structures 1202. The plurality ofoptical device structures 1202 are formed in an eyepiece area 101 of thesubstrate. The eyepiece area 101 is an area of the substrate 100 wherethe optical device eyepieces 1200A-1200C are formed. The optical deviceeyepieces 1200A-1200C may be formed into the substrate 100 following themethod 200 or the method 800. In one embodiment, which can be combinedwith other embodiments described herein, the optical device eyepieces1200A-1200C may be formed in a device material (not shown) disposed overa top surface 110 of the substrate 100. The optical device eyepieces1200A-1200C each have a target thickness distribution 116. The targetthickness distribution 116 may be any linear or nonlinear distribution.The target thickness distribution 116 is the same at each of theeyepiece areas 101. The plurality of optical device structures 1202 areformed in the substrate 100 according to the target thicknessdistribution 116.

As shown in the optical device lens 1200A of FIG. 12A, the plurality ofoptical device structures 1202 are formed in a base substrate 106 of thesubstrate 100. As shown in the optical device eyepieces 1200B and 1200Cof FIGS. 12B and 12C, the plurality of optical device structures 1202are formed in an index matched layer 108 of the substrate 100. In otherembodiments, which can be combined with other embodiments describedherein, the plurality of optical device structures 1202 are formed inboth the base substrate 106 and the index matched layer 108. Theplurality of optical device structures 1202 may be nanostructures havingsub-micron dimensions, e.g., nano-sized dimensions.

In one embodiment, which can be combined with other embodimentsdescribed herein, the optical device eyepieces 1200A-1200C are waveguidecombiners, such as augmented reality waveguide combiners. In anotherembodiment, which can be combined with other embodiments describedherein, the optical device eyepieces 1200A-1200C are flat opticaldevices, such as metasurfaces. The plurality of optical devicestructures 1202 may correspond to an input coupling grating or an outputcoupling grating of the optical device eyepieces 1200A-1200C. Theoptical device eyepieces 1200A-1200C are not limited to the number ofthe plurality of optical device structures 1202 shown in FIGS. 12A-12C.Although the plurality of optical device structures 1202 shown in FIGS.1A-1C are angled relative to a bottom surface 111 of the substrate 100,the plurality of optical device structures 1202 may be perpendicularrelative to the bottom surface 111 of the substrate 100.

In summation, methods of forming a substrate having a target thicknessdistribution at one or more eyepiece areas across a substrate aredescribed herein. The substrate includes eyepiece areas corresponding toareas where optical device eyepieces are to be formed on the substrate.Each eyepiece area includes a target thickness distribution of thesubstrate. The target thickness distribution is to be formed at eacheyepiece area utilizing the methods described herein. A base substratethickness distribution of a base substrate is measured such that atarget thickness change can be determined. The methods described hereinare utilized along with the target thickness change to form a substratewith the target thickness distribution. The target thicknessdistribution at each eyepiece area being the same or substantially thesame provides for a decrease in variation between each optical devicelens formed at each eyepiece area. Additionally, the target thicknessdistribution can be engineered in a way that is beneficial toperformance of the optical device eyepiece. Due to the formation of thetarget thickness distribution, it is not necessary to strictly controlthe thickness gradient of the substrates prior to performance of themethods described herein, such as with precise polishing processes.Therefore, material costs associated with precise polishing process arereduced.

While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the presentdisclosure, other and further embodiments of the disclosure may bedevised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scopethereof is determined by the claims that follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. An optical device, comprising: a base substrate,the base substrate having a base substrate thickness distribution; anindex matching layer disposed over the base substrate, wherein the indexmatching layer and the base substrate have a target thicknessdistribution defined by a distance between a top surface of the indexmatching layer and a bottom surface of the base substrate, wherein thetarget thickness distribution is different than the base substratethickness distribution; and a plurality of optical device structuresformed in the index matching layer, wherein depths of at least two ofthe optical device structures in the index matching layer are different,the depths in the index matching layer corresponding to the targetthickness distribution.
 2. The optical device of claim 1, wherein aheight of each optical device structure of the plurality of opticaldevice structures is the same, each height is a distance from a top of arespective optical device structure along the top surface of the targetthickness distribution to a bottom of the respective optical devicestructure.
 3. The optical device of claim 2, wherein the plurality ofoptical device structures are nanostructures having sub-microndimensions.
 4. The optical device of claim 3, wherein the plurality ofoptical device structures are angled relative to a bottom surface of thebase substrate.
 5. The optical device of claim 3, wherein the pluralityof optical device structures are perpendicular relative to a bottomsurface of the base substrate.
 6. The optical device of claim 3, whereinthe plurality of optical device structures correspond to an inputcoupling grating or an output coupling grating of the optical device. 7.The optical device of claim 1, wherein the optical device is anaugmented reality waveguide combiner.
 8. The optical device of claim 1,wherein the optical device is a metasurface.
 9. An optical device,comprising: a base substrate, wherein the base substrate has a targetthickness distribution, the target thickness distribution defined by adistance between a top surface and a bottom surface of the basesubstrate; and a plurality of optical device structures formed in thebase substrate, wherein depths of at least two of the optical devicestructures in the base substrate are different, the depths in the basesubstrate corresponding to the target thickness distribution, whereinthe optical device is formed by: measuring a base substrate thicknessdistribution across the base substrate; determining a target thicknesschange, the target thickness change determined by subtracting the basesubstrate thickness distribution from the target thickness distribution;forming the target thickness distribution in the base substrate; andforming a plurality of optical device structures in the base substrate,wherein the plurality of optical device structures correspond to thetarget thickness distribution.
 10. The optical device of claim 9,wherein the forming the target thickness distribution in the basesubstrate includes disposing a resist over the base substrate anddeveloping the resist utilizing a lithography process to form agray-tone distribution having a thickness distribution corresponding tothe target thickness distribution.
 11. The optical device of claim 10,wherein the forming the target thickness distribution in the basesubstrate further includes performing a transfer etch into the basesubstrate, the transfer etch forming the target thickness distributionin the base substrate that corresponds to the thickness distribution ofthe gray-tone distribution.
 12. The optical device of claim 10, whereinthe resist is disposed by one or more Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD),Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), Plasma-Enhanced Chemical VaporDeposition (PECVD), Flowable Chemical Vapor Deposition (FCVD), AtomicLayer Deposition (ALD), or spin-on processes.
 13. The optical device ofclaim 9, wherein the forming the target thickness distribution in thebase substrate includes performing a distribution etch process, thedistribution process etch forming the target thickness distribution bydirectly etching into the base substrate to account for the targetthickness change.
 14. The optical device of claim 13, wherein thedistribution etch process includes at least one of ion beam etching(IBE), reactive ion etching (RIE), directional RIE, plasma etching, orthermal atomic layer etching.
 15. The optical device of claim 9, whereinthe forming the target thickness distribution in the base substrateincludes disposing a resist over the base substrate with an inkjetprinting process, the resist having a thickness distributioncorresponding to the target thickness distribution and performing atransfer etch into the base substrate, the transfer etch forming thetarget thickness distribution in the base substrate.
 16. A substrate,comprising: a plurality of inactive areas; a plurality of eyepiece areasdisposed between the plurality of inactive areas, wherein each eyepiecearea includes a target thickness distribution across each of theplurality of eyepiece areas, the target thickness distribution definedby a distance between a top surface and a bottom surface of thesubstrate at each of the plurality of eyepiece areas; and an opticaldevice formed at each of the plurality of eyepiece areas, each opticaldevice having a plurality of optical device structures formed in thesubstrate or an index matching layer, wherein depths of at least two ofthe optical device structures in the substrate or index matching layerare different, the depths in the index matching layer corresponding tothe target thickness distribution.
 17. The substrate of claim 16,wherein a height of each optical device structure of the plurality ofoptical device structures is the same, each height is a distance from atop of a respective optical device structure along the top surface ofthe target thickness distribution to a bottom of the respective opticaldevice structure.
 18. The substrate of claim 16, wherein the pluralityof inactive areas include the target thickness distribution.
 19. Thesubstrate of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of the eyepieceareas has the same target distribution.
 20. The substrate of claim 16,wherein the optical device formed at each of the plurality of eyepieceareas are augmented waveguide combiners.